ARLINGTON, Texas — The surprise resignation Friday of Texas manager Ron Washington, which came four days after Houston fired Bo Porter, leaves Lloyd McClendon as the only black manager in the big leagues.

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McClendon said he, like many others, was caught off-guard by Washington’s announcement. Washington was nearing the end of his eighth season and had guided the Rangers to the World Series in 2010 and 2011

“I’m shocked right now,” McClendon said. “I don’t know what else to say. I don’t have any information. I’m in the dark just like everybody else.”

McClendon said Washington’s clubs reflected his personality.

“He loved the game,” McClendon said, “and they played hard with a lot of passion. And they were (darn) good. That’s a hard thing to accomplish, to get guys to want to play hard for you. But he did it better than anybody.”

ROTATION PLANS

Felix Hernandez won’t get any extra rest in the near future

Plans call for Hernandez to start Monday, when the Mariners return home to open a three-game series against Houston, and pitch again five days later on Sept. 13 against the A’s.

The Mariners have an open date, their final one of the season, next Thursday, but Hernandez will stay on a five-day cycle.

McClendon pointedly cited the six-day break that Hernandez had between late August starts as a key factor his his strong outing in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory at Oakland.

The rest of the tentative plan: Roenis Elias and Hisashi Iwakuma will pitch next Tuesday and Wednesday against the Astros. After the open date, James Paxton will start Friday against the A’s. Hernandez will go the following day.

McClendon hasn’t yet decided on a starter for Sept. 14 in the series finale against Oakland. That decision might hinge on how Chris Young performs Saturday against the Rangers.

IN THE CLUTCH

The Mariners were 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position in Thursday’s 10-2 victory over the Rangers and, entering Friday, topped all clubs in batting average with runners in scoring position over the last month.

“I don’t think it’s an accident,” McClendon said. “I think it’s something we stressed from the first day of spring training. It’s preparation from a mental standpoint.

“Getting in the video room and understanding what pitchers are going to do in certain situations. If you do that, you’ve got a better chance to be successful, particularly with runners in scoring position.”

The Mariners, overall, are batting .271 with runners in scoring position, which ranks sixth among the 30 clubs. Detroit leads at .279.

POSSIBLE NEED

The absence of a true utility player on the Mariners’ roster surfaced again Thursday in the late innings of their 10-2 victory over the Rangers.

While Brad Miller replaced Robinson Cano at second base, the Mariners had nobody to substitute for third baseman Kyle Seager, who has played every inning of every game since May 11. (He was the DH on June 20.)

If unable to find a veteran utility player, the Mariners have an in-house option in Ketel Marte, who batted a combined .304 in 128 games at Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma.

While Marte, 20, would need to be placed on the 40-man roster, that seems a minor issue because he will need to be protected this winter to avoid exposure to the Rule 5 draft..

CRUNCHING ODDS

The Mariners are rated roughly as a 50-50 chance to reach postseason when averaging the latest odds of three major computer projections entering the weekend.

ESPN’s projections continue to view the Mariners far more favorably than the others at 64.7 percent, while fangraphs.com and Baseball Prospectus tab them at 47.3 percent and 43.3 percent.

ESPN is also the only service that currently projects the Mariners to gain one of the five postseason slots. Its odds: Baltimore and Los Angeles 99.8, Oakland 97.7, Kansas City 76.8, the Mariners 64.7 and Detroit 50.9.

The Mariners released veteran reliever Todd Coffey earlier this week in order to allow him an opportunity to hook on with a major-league club. Coffey, 33, was 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 36 games at Triple-A Tacoma after missing all of last season while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery on his right elbow…While the Mariners are one of two clubs that doesn’t yet have a grand slam — the Dodgers are the other — they have five three-RBI hits with the bases loaded…The Mariners, prior to Friday, were 20-11 since the trade deadline. Only three clubs were better: Kansas City (22-9), Baltimore (22-10) and Washington (21-11).

LOOKING BACK

It was five years ago Saturday — Sept. 6, 2009 — that outfielder Ichiro Suzuki collected his 2,000th career hit with a leadoff double in the first inning of a 5-2 loss at Oakland.

Suzuki reached the milestone in his 1,402nd career game, which made him the second-fastest player in history to 2,000 hits. Hall of Fame outfielder Al Simmons did it in his 1,390th game in 1934 and finished with 2,927.

Entering Friday, Suzuki had 2,826 hits as he closes out his 14th major-league season. He was traded to the New York Yankees on July 23, 2012 for minor-league pitchers Danny Farquhar and D.J. Mitchell.

Farquhar is 1-1 with 2.54 ERA this season in 56 relief appearances. Mitchell was released by the Mariners in April 2013 and spent this season at Bridgeport in the independent Atlantic League.

ON TAP

The Mariners and Rangers continue their four-game series at 5:05 p.m. Pacific time Saturday at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

Right-hander Chris Young (12-7 with a 3.46 ERA) will get, perhaps, a final chance to retain his spot in the rotation after two poor starts when he opposes Texas right-hander Nick Martinez (3-10, 5.14).

Root Sports will televise the game.

The series concludes at 12:05 p.m. Pacific time Sunday with a match-up between lefties when James Paxton (5-1, 191) and Derek Holland (0-0, 1.29).

About Bob Dutton

Bob Dutton joined The News Tribune in 2013 after more than 25 years at the Kansas City Star, including the last 13 covering baseball and the Royals. He was the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 2008 and serves on the committee that nominates players to the Hall of Fame.